Team Fortress 2 Sniper Guide

The most comprehensive guide to sniping in Team Fortress 2. Includes tips tricks and more for all sniper weapons, as well as class match-ups.

Welcome!

Welcome to The Sniper Class!

G'day mate, Sniper here. Chances are, you've just begun sniping, or playing Team Fortress 2. If you have, welcome. If not, you're also welcomed. This guide will cover the basics of the sniper class, and later, advanced sniping tactics, as well as class match ups and weapons. So let's get to it, shall we? Passing it on to TrueRu18. Oh, yes, and one more thing, some words of wisdom: "Be polite, be efficient, and have a plan to kill everyone you meet." Good luck, anfd g'day!

Sniper Overview

Here are a few points to take note as when playing as sniper:

1. Keep as far from the battle field as possible, unless using the huntsman or fortified compound. That's why you have a scope, dummy.
2. Do not run out into the battle field by yourself, with medic or not. You only have 125 hp, so save it.
3. Take out your melee weapon when an enemy is close to you. I have many times made the mistake of pulling out my SMG when I could have killed the same enemy with a melee.
4. Get teammates to support you. You can't snipe accurately when the entire enemy team is coming for you. Try to put some distance, and try and quickscope the medic, soldier e.t.c.
5. Goes without saying, watch out for enemy snipers and spies.
6. If you can't get a headshot for whatever reason, try to at least get a bodyshot. As I always say, bettter to minus a minimum of 50 hp, than die trying to get a headshot that misses. After all, 50 hp to a scout, sniper, spy, engineer or even a medic may be crucial.

Sniper Basics

Sniper is one if the most crucial support classes in the game.How many times have you seen a heavy that was destroying your team, and seemingly with no way to kill him, when suddenly, out of the blue, the heavy drops dead from a head shot? Yes, that is the power of the sniper. To turn tides of battles seemingly lost (sometimes)

Anyway, imagine this: You are a sniper. Your team is pressing forward to the next control point on cp_mountain lab. You are perched high in the balcony near the second control point. You see one heavy, a medic healing him, a sniper, AND, an engineer setting up a sentry gun. You can't jump down and try to SMG them right? That will be suicidal. So instead, you scope in, and kill the sniper before he can react. Next, you headshot the engineer so that he can't upgrade his sentry. After which, you kil the medic with a quick headshot, the heavy desparately tries to shoot you with his minigun. But he is just too far. You line up a headshot, waiting for it to charge. Then, you pull the trigger. Finally, you leisurely destroy the sentry gun, paving the way for the rest of your team to stroll in, taking out the scouts, spies e.t.c...

The thing about snipers is that they have very little health, coming in the same as the scout, engineer and spy, with 125 hp. ThIs isn't much, as a spy can quickly take you down with a revolver. However, since snipers usually hang around near the back of the team, the only time they get injured seriously is when, a) the enemy pushes forward, and you don't retreat in time, b) when a spy attcks you, c) when a random enemy comes wandering to you and, d) when the enemy sniper gets a bodyshot on you. Those are the main reasons why snipers leave their posts for a medic, or health pack.

Sniping for Dummies

This is the most basic of sniping techniques, only used by noobs, or people who just began play sniper.

Step 1: Hide behind a wall.
Step 2: Scope in and charge a shot.
Step 3: Peek out and try to shoot anything that is not wearing a shirt of the same colour as you.
Step 4 (If hit): Say YAY! Then repeat from step 1
Step 5 (If miss): Say BOO! (just kidding) Pray that no one comes to you, then repeat from step 1

However, as the world moves along, people get bored of this stratergy. (Sad for noobs and beginners) People begin aggresively watching out for potential prey, running to them instead of the enemy running to the snipers. Thus, quickscoping, 360 no scopes and all that kind of stuff was born. Which brings us to our next chapter: types of shots

Types of Shots

There are 4 main types of shots fired from sniper rifle:
1. No scope
This shot is relatively easy, but also the weakest. Simply line up the enemy on the crosshairs like with any other gun, and shoot. This shot from a stock sniper rifle does about 50 damage

2. Quickscope (uncharged headshot)
This shot is, in my opinion, the hardest to do. In theory it sounds easy: scope in. Aim for the enemy's head. Shoot. However, this is easy to do on stationary targets, but things get tricky when say, defending yourself against a scout who is trying to blast your brains out. For this shot, just practise. Get a friend and go to a server. (preferably not full crit) Ask him to be a scout and run towards you, like he normally would, just without shooting at you. Then just practise. It will be hard at first, I was there before, but after awhile you should to be able to quickscope a moving soldier from 10m away.

3. Fully charged bodyshot
This shot with the stock sniper rifle is quite useful, for getting rid of fast moving classes like the scout or medic. Also extremely useful for taking out enemy snipers who have not seen you yet. Deals 150 damage.

4. Fully charged headshot
Nothing can stop this shot, even a fully overhealed heavy, as it does 450 damage. Aim this shot well. The tide-turning bullet.

Scoping

There are two types of scoping:

Hardscoping

These are usually the campers. They stand at one spot, and try to shoot anything that goes across the space that they are watching. I myself am somewhat a hardscoper. This type of scoping dosen't require you to move much, but makes you more susceptible to spy's backstab as you spend most of your time scoped in.

Quickscoping

These are the highly aggressive snipers. They move about, scoping in quickly to only shoot an enemy. Quickscopers are a highly versatile snipers, able to weaken enemies, or kill them. Quickscoping separates a camper from a force on the battlefield itself.

Sniper Primary Weapons

Primary Weapons

In this chapter, I will be discussing on the different weapons available for the primary weapon slot for sniper.

Stock Sniper Rifle/ AWPer hand

Ah, one of my favourites. No frills, stock weapon. I reccommend it highly. Able to kill many things quickly with a fully charged body shot. AWPer hand is basically a nicer looking version of the stock.

Bazaar Bargain

This rifle is only reccommended for highly skilled snipers, who are able to headshot reliably. Each successful shot increases your charge time by 25%, and vice versa. It starts off with a charge speed penalty of 50%, and each headshot kill increases it by 25%. It caps off at 6 heads, and that will be a faster charge rate of 200% (compared to stock) Take note: only a headshot kill will collect the head.

Hitman's Heatmaker

Like the above, only reccommended for highly skilled snipers as it does 20% less damage on bodyshots. As it only does 120 damage max on fully chrged bodyshots, be careful of enemy snipers, spies and scouts. However, this gun is good for training for headshotting. There was this period of time when I played on full crit servers too much, and got used to bodyshotting people. So, to train myself to headshot people again, I used the Hitman's Heatmaker. Most people use this gun for the 'focus' effect, which allows you to remain scoped while reloading. Plus, it looks cool and gibs heads. :)

The Machina

This gun is seen in the 'classic' noob of tf2. Quite a few people use this gun, probably because of the 15% damage bonus on fully charged shots. A fully charged shot will also penetrate players, most likely killing them in the process. As a downside, it can only fire while scoped, which makes it unsuitable in noscoping scouts who are close up. Also, it fires tracer rounds, which means that after you fire a shot, you need to make it count, because if not it means that a) the enemies know where you are, and b) there are no dead enemies. Make each shot count for this gun

The Classic

This weapon is named after Team Fortress Classic, and it sucks as much as TFC's graphics do too. Holding down left click will charge a shot, releasing it will fire it. The scope is the same, meaning that scoping and charging are 2 separate things. Oh, and it only scores headshots on fully charged shots, so make that 1 shot count. Almost no one uses this gun.

The Sydney Sleeper

This gun really puts in the 'Support' in the 'support' role of the sniper. Snipers are typically known as birds of prey, picking off enemes with powerful shots. However, this gun, makes you rely more on your teammates to finish off key targets, because the gun coates the victim in Jarate, and depending on the length of being scoped, 2 to 8 seconds. With this gun, you need to stick closer to your team because you can't finish off scouts and spys with a headshot.

Huntsman/Fortified Compound

This weapon is very fun to use. As in the release poster, "You will shoot them and they will stick to the wall and die" I mean, this is why you play tf2. Is there any other game which a sniper wielding a bow and arrow shoots another sniper with a sniper rifle and kill the 2nd sniper? No. (Yes, I'm looking at you COD tryhards) This weapon is best used at mid-short range, along narrow corridors (like the DeGroot Keep gates) This weapon uses the projectile hitbox, which is bigger than hitscan weapons, thus making it easier to kill people, giving it the name 'Lucksman' as people would just spam them into a crowd and hope it hits something (often so). In my opinion, its best used in mid range. Using the huntsman requires good timing and reflexes. There are many guides on the internet to help you with that.

Sniper Secondary Weapons

Alright, on from the primaries. This loadout slot can probably make or break your career as a sniper. Read on to find out more.

Sub-Machine Gun (SMG)

This weapon is your stock weapon. It fires at a quite fast rate, and has 25 bullets per magazine and does 8 damage on a hit (24 on full crit). You have 4 rounds of 25 bullets. This weapon reloads very quickly, and if you can pump in a decent round into someone, its gonna hurt quite a bit. Overall a fairly well rounded weapon, because, you know, its a stock weapon.

The Cleaner's Carbine

This weapon is like the SMG, but it has a 20% damage penalty, and 35% slower firing rate. So it makes it almost a direct downgrade from the stock. BUT (a very big but here) if you do finally kill someone, it gives you 8 seconds of mini-crits. So yay! Congrats, you just pumped an entire SMG worth of rounds into someone, and when they finally die, 8 seconds of mini-crits...Although, it is not listed in the stats, it is a silenced SMG (like the Hitman's Heatmaker). So it dosen't bring the entire enemy team running. But honestly though, what are you gonna do with that lousy 8 seconds of mini-crits? By the time you actually find someone to pump more bullets into, the mini-crit boost would have probably run out. Don't believe me? Well imagine this: You are calmly snipin' one day in the warm sun of Dustbowl, being the professional you are, when suddenly, you hear the dead ringer's decloak behind you. You turn around to find an injured SPY! You pull out yo' Cleaner's Carbine, and pump everything into him (assuming he's AFK) and, 8 seconds of mini-crit. Huzzah for you! You run to the enemy, and...your mini-crits stop. You're left stranded high and dry in- between the cross-fire of a team who won't want anything better than you dead. Yay! In my opinion, the only people who use this are people who just started TF2 and got some random weapon, and equipped it. If Valve really wants to buff this weapon, turn it into like, I don't know, 15 seconds of mini-crits?

The Darwin's Danger Shield

This is a shield on your back which adds 20% bullet resistance and 25 health to you, but gives you 20% vunerability to explosives. I feel that it is quite well balanced. When in the day before Valve nerfed item set bonuses, the Croc-O-Style Kit gave you headshot immunity, because, you coudn't headshot using the Sydney Sleeper. Quite a good bonus, I would say. But of course, Valve nerfed all the good item set bonuses, because the Saharan Spy one was too OP. Anyway, back to the point, the Danger shield gives you bullet resistance, blah blah.... BUT, the important thing here is the 20% bullet resistance. This resistance allows you to survive an uncharged headshot, which is kinda useful here. If you don't understand, here's the math:

Uncharged Headshot (Stock Sniper Rifle) = 150 dmg
Without Danger Shield = Dead Sniper (a.k.a you)

With Danger Shield (i.e Bullet Resistance) = 150 x 20%
= 30 less dmg

Therefore, with Danger Shield + Uncharged Headshot
Remaining Health = 150hp -120hp
= 30hp
Which means that you can survive to headshot another day. Yay! :)
For me, I feel that the explosives vuerability dosen't matter that much, because if its a demoman, you're also probably dead. With a Soldier, you'll just have to be careful. But most likely, with or without the Danger Shield, you're probably dead. Just saying.

The Razorback

This weapon was added in the Sniper vs Spy update, and is a fairly useful item to have in your backpack. You shouldn't use it in your standard loadout, that's for sure, because it specifically protects you from spies. Other than that, it dosen't really do much. Alot of people scoff at this weapon because they say "A competent spy can pull out his revolver and kill you." And this is true. Which is why I'm here to help. Now, the razorback when used while you are alone is quite useless, but it DETERS spies from backstabbing you. But, this is not all. The razorback should only be used when you are scared of spies, i.e a hardscoper. BUT, this is the most useful when used near sentry guns or team mates, because once the spy backstabs/ shoots at you with his revolver, his disguise is dropped, and gg mate, to the spy. Take this experiences of mine as an example: I was defending a point near my team. I was wearing the razorback, and killed many of the BLU team when they exited spawn. Because of this, a spy was sent out to kill me. The spy got behind me, and stabbed my razorback. However, a passing soldier saw him, and because the spy was powerless to defend himself, by the time I turned around, the spy was little more than a charred lump of flesh hitting the ground. Another situation: I was defending the last point of Borneo with my team, and we had 2 sentries behind the bomb drop. I was snipin' at the bomb drop point, a good spot to pick off enemies as they tried to push the cart in, and thus, I was a quite high value target. Unfortunately, (for BLU) I was wearing the razorback. So when some poor, dumb sap tried to backsab me, the sentries took care of him within 1 second, and when I turned around, he was a charred lump of flesh on the ground.

Jarate / Self-Aware Beauty Mark

This weapon, is basically a jar of piss (or some green liquid with a mutant bread inside), which when tossed onto enemies, makes all damage dealt to them mini-crits (take 35% more damage) Its quite a well balanced weapon, because you have to get close to splash the Jarate, but your specialty is long ranged, so I think it makes good pairing with the Huntsman and Bushwhacka (more on that later)

The Cozy Camper

This item used to be quite bad, because in return for +1 hp a second on wearer, and no 'jerking' or flinching while scoped and 20% less knockback, you took 20% more damage from everything. However, after the Gun Mettle update (June 2015), the increased damage attribute was removed, and it is now quite buffed up. After Gun Mettle update, I use it myself, because the hp regeneration and no flinching really helps. The hp regeneration helps you to NOT go off to hunt for health packs, unless you're seriously injured. With the health regen, you can basically negate all damage till about 50% hp, so it saves you time from hunting health and medics, crucial time which can be used taking out key targets. The 'no flinching' is also very useful for taking out heavies which sre shooting at you from a distance away, and pyroes wo shot you with a flare. Trust me, use this item. It can save your life many, many times.

Okey dokey, on to the melee weapons!

Sniper Melee Weapons

Your melee weapon has many application. From defending yourself from spies, to giving the hellejuzah of a shock to enemies as you come charging at them swinging your melee (more on that later, see 'Sniper Tactics'), its important for the sniper (you) to get the most suitable weapon to fit your loadout.

Kukri

This weapon is a stock weapon, and is quite an ok weapon, looks nice. Does 195 damage on full crit and about 65 dmg on normal hits.

The Bushwhacka

This weapon turns all damage normally done as mini-crits into full crits (195 dmg) However, all damage taken while this weapon is active increases by 20%. So, once you splash someone with Jarate, ONLY pull out the bushwhacka when as close as possible to minimise the damage taken. And don't uneccessarily hold out the weapon, a random bullet can do more damage as well. So basically, avoid holding it unless you are actually going to chop someone with it.

The Shahansha

(Shahashahansha? Shahaha? Sahansahaha? Aaargh, screw it) Actually, its Sha-han-sha. This weapon does 25% less damage than the stock kukri when your health is more than 50%, but does 25% more damage when your health is below 50%. Used well with the huntsman because you will naturally take more damage when using the huntsman. Don't use it wiith the Cozy Camper, because the health regeneration will eventually negate the shahansha's buff.

The Tribal Man's Shiv

This weapon does 50& less damage than the stock kukri (33 damage) on normal hits, but will cause bleed effect on someone for 6 seconds. So the bleed effect and base damage will be:

Bleed dmg = 4 dmg x 6 seconds
= 24 dmg
Total dmg = 33 dmg + 24 dmg
= 57 dmg
BUT mini-crits also affect this weapon. If you splash someone with jar-based karate (a.k.a jarate), they will take 5 damage on bleed effect AND the 33 dmg + mini-crit damage, so making it:

Base dmg w/ Jarate = 33 x 135%
= 44 dmg (its actually 44.5 but I h=just rounded it down)
Bleed dmg w/ Jarate = 5 dmg x 6 seconds
= 30 dmg
Total dmg w/ Jarate = 44 dmg + 30 dmg
= 74 dmg
So, while the bushwhacka was enjoying its famous pairing with the Jarate, your poor tribal man's shiv was sitting in your backpack collecting dust. HOWEVER, before you start rushing out to get a tribalman's shiv and jarate, I must warn you that this 'mini-crit combo' will not work in 1 hit if:

1. Your enemy has a medic or health pack at hand
2. Your enemy has more than 74 hp

On point number 1, you can't really do anything if your enemy has a medic, but if he has a health pack at hand, try to hit him as many times as possible. 2 hits without a health pack is a guaranteed kill on about 4 classes. On point number 2, you can first soften him up by no- scoping him and decreasing his health by 50. So yeah, Jarate's quite good with the tribalman's shiv, but still, a more practical choice would be the bushwhacka.

When writing this part of the guide, I noticed that we snipers don't have that many melee weapons to choose from. Just saying.

Sniper Loadouts

On this section, I will not be covering all the loadouts possible for the sniper, because that willn simply take too long. Thus, I will only cover some noteworthy loadouts.

Stock Loadout

This loadout will consist of the stock sniper rifle (or a reskin), the SMG (or reskins), and the Kukri (or reskins). The stock sniper rifle will allow you to take down many enemies (in fact, all of them on a fully-charged headshot except under an uber) The SMG will allow you to defend yourself at mid-range while backpedaling to run away, while the kukri will allow you to defend yourself from spies and scouts, e.t.c. Its the stock loadout, so no upsides or downsides. Once you get the hang of this loadout, you will probably have a greater sense of your own personal playstyle.

The Cozy Campin' Sniper

This loadout will be like the stock, but replacing the SMG with the Cozy Camper. I use this loadout myself, but instead stock, I use my Silver Botkiller Sniper Rifle Mk 2, and instead of the Kukri, the Frying Pan. The sniper rifle will be able to kill 5 out of 9 classes with just a single headshot. The other 4, (non overhealed) can be taken out in 2 headshots. The Cozy Camper's hp regen and no flinching while scoped is very useful, because if a scout tries to shoot you from further away, you can shoot them relatively easily because of behaviour pattern (more on that later). Also, if a pyro tries to harass you from long-range witth a flare, the 'no flinching' will allow you to quickscope him rather easily, negating the fire flinching while scoped, and the hp regen is very useful. It allows you to have no need to go and find health packs after getting body-shoted by a sniper.

The 'Jarate Master'

I'm sure this loadout is quite clear. You shouldn't really use this loadout seriously, because it is a trolling loadout. So you basically use the Sydney Sleeper, Jarate and Bushwhacka.The Sydney Sleeper is tto support your team, Jarate for self-defense, and the Bushwhacka to scare the hellejulah out of people. (Honestly, do you expect a Sniper ro come running to you swinging a Bushwhacka?) Only thing though, when people get splashed by Jarate, they almost expect a sniper to come charging, because, its like a predictable, 1, 2 combo. Also, try only to pull out the Bushwhacka as late as possible, to make sure the 20% extra damage is jept to a minimum.. For added effect, use the 'Master's Yellow Belt' cosmetic.

Huntsman Loadouts

The Hunter

I couldn't come up with a better name. :P
Anyway, this loadout is quite predictable. Huntsman, SMG, and Kukri. Huntsman for mid-close range combat. SMG for a slightly more reliable form of self defense at closer range, and the kukri for spies 'n' other nasties.

The Jarate Hunter

This one has the Huntsman, Jarate, and Bushwhacka. Huntsman for the usual combat of close to mid range, and jarate to deal with spies or classes that like to get up close and personal. Take note though, this loadout is best used on servers with 15+ people, if not just use the above loadout. Also, be careful not to be caught off guard in a push as you are closer to the frontlines than normal, and it is fairly difficult to catch more than 2 enemies at once with your Jarate, so hang back while waitng for your Jarate regen, or just stick closer to teammates when without Jarate.

So, I've bet you guys have been wondering: So, TrueRu18, what is the best loadout?
Well, my answer to that is: " Whatever suits you."
Yes, I'm serious. You would probably do best with a loadout you like, because everyone has a different playstyle. On 1v1, I'm a highly aggressive sniper. (Trust me, I've battled a friend who used Lmaobot. He sucks at sniper, so he usedLmaobot to see how good I am. He turned on auto aim and spin bot but no auto shoot to make it fair. Anyways, I could scope in, aim, and shoot faster than he could just click)

Btw, I'm TrueRu18.( The guy with The Anger, Botkiller and Cozy Camper)

So, now you're thinking: I now know what is the 'best' loadout, but what about the worst? And I say: My dear reader, I've tested it before. (Well not on pubs, just 1v1) Which brings us to.... *insert drum roll here*

THE WORST SNIPER LOADOUT

1. Sydney Sleeper/ The Classic (now that I think about it)
2. Cleaner's Carbine/ Razorback (unless yoou're fighting 10 spies)
3. Shahansha

(Note: I've only tested the first weapons under each point, on 1v1, so I don't know about pubs)

Moving along to class behhaviour.

Class Behaviour & Match-Ups (Pt 1)

Class Behaviours

Alright, one of the reasons why many people can't hit anything. One of the reasons why could be probably that they do not know how to predict the movements of their enemies. If you watch closely, each class has a specific movement pattern. In this section, I will be discussing the different movement patterns of different classes, how to predict them, and be a better sniper. This will also be abit on class match ups.

Scout

Scouts travel mostly in straight lines, and will often try to double jump if they see you aiming at them. They will also try to harass you from long range with the scatttergun or pistol. (Use Cozy Camper to negate) If you're scoped in, also look out for scouts using the sandman, who will try to stun you and kill you. However, watch out for Soda Popper Hype, Force-A-Nature and Atomizer, as they will be able to triple jump. A fully charged bodyshot or quick headshot will be enough to dispatch a scout back to the respawn room. They don't really pose a threat at long range, but don't let them get too close, where they are the strongest.

Soldier

The Soldier has a rather slow walking speed, so they don't really pose a threat to you when they are just walking. However, once he sees you, he will probably try to a) Send a barrage of rockets down/towards you or b) rocket jump away/towards you and send a barrage of rockets on you. Either way, unless he is a fairly skilled soldier, he will probably launch all the rockets at once. Duck behind cover, then count the rockets as they hit. Once he hits 4 (or for the rocket launcher he is using), peep back out to fire a shot. Take note of the different rocket launchers kill icon. If you see a kill pop up by a soldier, and you know what weapon he is using, you will be better prepared of the 2 if you 2 happen to meet.

Still don't understand? Here's an example:

Snipin' Textbook Example 1:
You see an enemy soldier kill your teammate in the killfeed. You recognize the kill icon as a Direct Hit's
Meaning-------------> Be careful! The Direct Hit travels very quickly and does alot of damage on well, a direct hit. However, it also means that you only need to skirt and avoid the rocket to take little to zero damage.

Snipin' Textbook Example 2:
You see The Beggar's Bazooka kill icon in the killfeed.
Meaning-------------> No need to move if the soldier is very far away. The 3% random projectile deviation will ensure that you will almost never get hit if the soldier is aiming straight at you.

Pyro

Pyros generally travel in straight lines unless they're trying to land a hit on you with a flare, where they will try to strafe and fire. They will also try to dodge in and out of cover as they launch the flares at you. However, if they're just using flare gun, scorch shot or detonator, they will probably run out of ammo fairly quickly.Watch out for the crit combos (Degreaser and flare gun/detonator/scorch shot) Pyros don't really pose a threat from long rang if they only have some form of shotgun, but once they get into range, you're most likely dead if you're by yourself. Running won't really help because you 2 have exactly the same movement speed. If you can, get a quick headshot on the pyro then a quick no scope or SMG burst should be enough.

Demoman

Demomen have rather large heads in proportion to their bodies, so like engineers and soldiers, are rather easy to headshot. You will mostly encounter them as they are rushing off to the frontline. In some (rare) situations, notably Suijin, you will be able to see the enemy spawn. This is the place where demomen will most likely use the double sticky technique, and will have about 50 health left after that jump. That was how, on Suijin, I saw a demo preparing to sticky jump at spawn using 2 stickies. I just did a fully charged bodyshot him, and ummm...he blew himself up. Anyways, demos will run in a straight line mostly, blah, blah, they are a fairly ok target to pick, somewhere about 3/4 up to halfway on the 'Most Wanted' list. Oh, yes, one more thing, the pills travel deceptively far. They can roll, or travel a remarkable distace if its the Loch-and -Load.

Heavy

Snipers are the natural prefators of the hoovy (along with the spy) because we are the assasins of tf2, killing those who can't be killed...never mind, I'm doing my assasins monologue. Ummm, yeah, where was I? Oh yes, the Heavy. I don't know if it's just me, but I think that the heavy is quite hard to headshot...I don't know, I have this theory that the ratio between the class's head and his body makes it either easier to headshot or harder. People say that because the heavy is a very slow class, it is very to headshot. However, the heavy's head is very small in comparison to his body, so all you need actually, is a steady hand and nerves of steel. You know? If you panic, you will probably miss the shot. (More on that in Sniping Tactics.) Anyway, keep away from the heavy, he will probably be with a medic or his team, so taking him on in close range is not advisable becaus ehis minigun can shred you in seconds. On the 'Most Wanted' List,, he ranks at number 3. (More on that later.) To sum up snipin' Heavys, Calm nerves, steady mouse and patience.

Engineer

Since both of you fight behind your team's lines, it is rather unlikely that the 2 of you would meet, unless either you or the engie is fairly aggressive (gunslinger engie). Most of the time, engineers will be camped behind their buildings, making it difficult to get them. However, you have an advantage if the engie dosen't have the wrangler. That makes him completely reliant on his own primaries or pistol which deal very little damage outside the sentry's range because of the pellet spread (except for the pomson and Rescue Ranger) If he has either the pomson of rescue ranger, he will have to reload sooner of later, so just quickly take a shot. Here's the stratergy: You see an engie, assuming he dosen't have the wrangler, he can only shoot say, pomson bolts at you. Just poke in and out of cover while charging a shot (if he has a full nest) If he has a Level 3 Sentry, a fully charged shot will damage 450 of the 530 hp. If I were the engie, I would want to save my sentry, so once he stops firing shots to repair his sentry, get rid of his dispenser and teleporter. If he has the wrangler, then it is a different story altogether. If he notices you, chances are he will pull out the wrangler and try to kill you. The best you can do is alert your team, then retreat until your team is trying to make a push, and when the engie is distracted, get rid of his buildings. The engie is quite easy to headshot, given that his head is quite big in comparison to his body. Plus, his hard hat is bright yellow, which to us snipers is like a big neon sign saying 'SHOOT ME'

Now, I've almost reached the word limit, so I'll have to continue in the next chapter.

Class Behaviour & Match Ups (Pt 2)

Medic

The medic is the second most important member for you to kill because of his ubeer charge, and also his ability to heal people. Medics don't typically travel alone, unless they're just coming out from respawn. Medics will most likely be found healing heavies, soldiers, or some high damage output class. Medics from long range don't really pose a threat, unless they have the Crusader's Crossbow, which is does maximum damage of 75dmg at long range (which is quite hard to do) because unless your environment awareness is like a block of wood, you shouldn't have much problems dodging them. However, what you DO have to look out for is those combat medics (like ArraySeven, myself e.t.c) who don't give a sh*t about anyone who stands in their way and aren't afraid of spraying Hepatitis A-Z into you or shoving a bonesaw up somewhere unpleasant. If you're REALLY unlucky, and a medic happens to come across you with a blutsauger, well, his health will go up faster than a scout with the Baby's Face Blaster. Anyways, try to do a quick headshot on him, of it's too risky, a fully charged bodyshot with the stock works just as well.

Sniper

Oooh, pesky snipers. On the enemy team. This is one of the times when there SHALL BE ONLY ONE!!! Its your job to pick off the guy who is trying to do the exact same thing to your team. When this happens, it leads to what is commonly referred to as 'sniper duel' The trick is , scope second, shoot first. Try to scope in when your crosshairs are near the target's head, so you have to move less when you are trying to shoot.

Spy

Spies are the arch-enemies of snipers. You hardly see them undisguised, and most of the time, becaause you are behind your lines, you get to\o see spies go in for the backstab. Don't be afraid to shoot the spy in the back, especially if you have a fully charged shot. Don't try to go for the headshot if you have the fully charged shot, because the hitbox for the spy remains the same, regardless of the spy (see below)



So, try to remember the spy hitbox with each disguise. For example, for the scout, aim above the scout's head to get the headshot. Only do this if you are very confident. Try to check common sniping spots for spys before starting to snipe. Also, its understood, check your back constantly, and when chasing a spy, watch out for trickstabs.

Hardware

In this section, I will be discussing the hardware needed to have the best gaming experience in tf2, and whether certain equipment is truly neccessary for playing tf2.

Computer

I play tf2 on 2 different computers, one is a desktop, and one is a laptop.

My desktop: HP Envy 23
OS : Windows 8.1


My laptop: Acer Aspire V11
OS :Windows 10
Because I use my laptop for everything, and only have actually used the desktop to play tf2 when my laptop was servicing, I don't really know much about the desktop's specifications. So, I'll just type out whatever is printed next to my laptop's touchpad (a.k.a its specifications)

Intel Pentium quad core processor N3540 (up to 2.66 GHz)
Intel HD Graphics
4GB DDR3 L Memory
500 GB HDD ~Sticker on my laptop next to my touchpad

The desktop is of course much faster and dosen't lag while with bots (according to my younger brother), however, my laptop handles 14 bots ok, but sometimes it just lags like hell, and its quite annoying. When connecting to a server, the desktop of course connects much quicker, because its nearer to the modem, and the processors are faster. All in all, the desktop has quite a lot of pros here, but it can't beat the laptop for mobility. Right now, as I'm typing this guide, I'm sitting in my room, then later I can move outsiide or to my dad's room if I want a better connection. Overall, try to use a desktop if possible, because of its processing power and server connection times, but if you can't, its ok as well. I can't say anything about gaming laptops, because I've only used my friend's one for like 5 minutes, and I have never owned any gaming laptops in my entire life...they're too expensive. My laptop cost like, $600, and an Alien Ware gaming laptop can go up to $2000...In my humble opinion, unless you're some hard core gaming fanactic, you're not gonna lose much with a standard laptop. (Mine doubles up as a work laptop as well)

Keyboard

Well, my laptop's keyboard works just fine so there. The HP Envy23's keyboard is a Logitech wired keyboard (can't remember the model number, and it works fine as well. Don't get a keyboard where the buttons are too far apart, you may get finger cramps from stretching too far. Also,if you're buying a separate keyboard, try and test it out by seeing if you can easily press W,A, S and D whille pressing common keys in-game such as SPACE, CTR,e.t.c. Never died when not using a gaming keyboard so there. As I like to say "What you don't know won't kill you"

Mouse

When my friend found out that I didn't have a gaming mouse, he was in shock. I don't know why. One of my good friends who is a better sniper than myself does not use a gaming mouse. Neither do I. My mouse is a fairly old Logitech M325, and its very nice and comfortable. The most important part of a mouse is comfort. If you look at my mouse (see below), the sides contour inwards rather nicely, and fit comfortably in your hand.


Try to get a wireless mouse if you aren't too concerned with a slight delay, I feel that wires tend to get in the way. My mouse is about $30 I think, and the cheapest gaming mice out there in Challenger (the Singapore electronics equivalent of Walmart, I think), AND in the Challenger 'Home' Brand Valore, is about $50. So yeah, not really required.

Mouse Pad

The mouse pad is also quite inportant, as it provides consistensy across all surfaces. For sniper especiall, try to get a mouse pad with a relatively smooth surface so you can track a target across the screen. My mouse pad is an old IBM mouse pad from my mom. all you need actually for a mouse pad is consistentsy. The bottom of the mouse pad should be made of non-slip material, but not too sticky, if not it will attract alot of lint, fluff and dirt onto it (My friend has one-its kinda gross) My mouse pad has a rubbery underside and a smooth, plasticky surface.

Conclusion

Do I think gaming hardware is neccessary? No. You don't have to have the best hardware to be the best assasin. Do I think gaming stuff are incredulously expensive? Yes. Ok, on to the next section!

Sniper Tactics

In-Game Sniper Tactics

Alrighty, we've covered your gaming hardware, you've ound the perfect gun to fit your play style, now, all you have to do is learn what a good sniper's behaviour should be like in-game.

Positioning

Positioning on the battlefield is especially inportant for the sniper, because we are the 'camping' style of game play. Here's an example of very good positioning for RED on last point cp_mountainlab (one of my favourite maps)



As you can see, I have a clear view over the entire last point, and can even see 2 out of the 3 entry ways to the point. "But what about the top entry way?" I hear you ask. Well, I can watch it as well (where my crosshairs is) (But you can only bodyshot, or rather, foot shot. I love it when the enemy panics because say, a soldier walking, and loses 150 of his hp, trust me, its hilarious)



And thus, I can see the enemy, and they can't because of the big ceiling structure as shown in the below photo.




Here is an exerpt from one of the best sniper guides out there on the web for your positioning .(link is under 'References')

"--Position on high ground (1st floor, a hill i.e.)--
+ Your own body is covered and not visible in most cases.
+ Your enemies can't predict your movements that easily.
+ You have a good vision over the whole battlefield.
- You can only see the legs if the enemy stands at the entrance or under a ceiling.
- You can't see anything right below you (like a Demoman who throws some Stickys at your position).

--Position on low ground (main entrance i.e.)--
+ You have a good vision on the low grounds...
+ ...which allows you to take out enemies you couldn't have seen on a high position.
+ The enemy can only see your legs if you're standing under a ceiling.
- If there is no ceiling or any other kind of cover around, you're an easy target for the enemy.
- You can't predict the movements of enemies that easily since you don't have the whole battlefield in your range of view.

--A sideways Position (standing at the left or right wall i.e.)--
+ You can see enemies behind their cover due to your position...
+ ...which allows you to launch a surprise attack: The enemy won't expect to be attacked behind their "save" cover.
- As soon as the enemy has spotted you, you'll be on your own since your position is off-track in most cases.
- It may be dangerous to approach such a sideways position.
- You can't see all Sniper positions from your standpoint.
- other classes like the Scout or the Medic are difficult to hit if they're running from left to right or vice versa." ~Pro Sniper Guide

Battle Sense

While fighting in a match, (yes, even in pubs), you need to have a lot of what gamers call "game sense" - i.e, knowing about what is going on in the game, and not just being wrapped up in yourself, and what you are doing. (Especially in pubs, no one is actually communicating). Anyways, most of it comes with experience, such as when I mentioned the kill icon weapon under 'Soldier' in 'Class Behaviour & Match-Ups", yoou don't just learn them off the bat, I learnt them when I go through the Tf2 Wiki. If you know whatt weapon the enemy is using, you will be more likely to be better prepared if you 2 meet. Other bits of information you can glean from your standard HUD is 1) weapons the enemy is carrying, 2) roughly how many people there are on each class, 3) whether they have a heavy medic combo, soldier medic combo e.t.c. If you still don't understand, here are a few examples:

Example 1: You see the killfeed light uo with the enemy team kills. 2 players seem to get the most with say, a minigun kill icon.
Meaning-----------> There's a heavy medic combo with the standard minigun

Example 2: You see that on a CP map, the control point just pop up with a 'x2' player capture rate
Meaning------------>Most likely there's a scout there, if not, either a soldier or demo witht the pain train (comparatively rare). If you see a 'x2' capture rate with it changing to 'x1' back again, it probably means that there are no scouts there, and just 2 people trying to cap the point.

Every map has some form of good sniping spots, and here are a few points to consider:
1. How long does it take for me to reach that sniping spot?
2. By the time I reach, would the enemy have advanced past that spot?
3. Can I be seen from there by enemy snipers easily?
4. Can my team help defend me if the other team finds me?
5. What sort of classes would be there, and be able to defend me?

These are just a few points to consider. But how to find these 'good' sniping spots? Well, its a matter of trial and error, becasue a lot of it depends on your play style. However, there are generally better spots than others. Whatever you want has Pros and Cons, as shown in a nice chart below.

Near your Team

Pros

1) Your team can defend
you easily in case of a spy attack
2) Your medic can heal
you easily in case you get injured

Cons

1) You are more likely to get killed by a class which you can't defend yourself against easily (Soldier, Demo)
2) More deaths probably means less kills

Away from Your Team

Pros

1)You are less likely to
be disturbed by heavier classes
(soldiers, demos e.t.c)
2)You and your team can spread
out, covering more ground

Cons

1)You are more vunerable to scout attacks, especially spies
2) You have to go hunt for health packs whenever you suffer moderate to severe
damage. (Cozy Camper can help here)

Class Match-Ups

Class Match-Ups

I know I've put this in the 'Class Behaviour & Match-Ups' Section, but I didn't go through every class against the Sniper. So here, I will just go through their strengths, weaknesses and a few other stuff.

Sniper

Health: 125hp; With Darwin's Danger Shield: 150
Role: Support
Sub-Role: Assasination
Speed: 100%; Zoomed in: 27%; With Huntsman bow drawn: 53%
Strength: Range
Weakness: Close range classes, Other snipers, Low health pool
Notable Abilities: Headshots
Description: Snipers generally tend to stay far away from the battle field, prefering to pick off enemies or assasinate high value targets such as heavies and medics with a headshot.

Scouts

Health: 125hp; With Sandman equipped: 110hp
Role: Offense
Sub-Role: Distracting the enemy, Picking off weak targets
Speed: 133%; With Baby's Face Blaster, no boost: 120%; Baby's Face Blaster, Full Boost:173%
Strength: Close Range, Speed,
Weakness: Low health Pool, Tend to run and jump in predictable patterns, Range
Notable Abilities: Double Jumps, Speed, Triple Jumps and Soda Popper Jumps
Description:Scouts are very fast, and as a sniper, they can be there and kill you before you know it. If you know one is heading in your direction, and might pose a threat to you, try to retreat to your team or eliminate him. They are weak when far from you, where you are the strongest, and vice versa. Try to kill him if there are no important targets in the area

Soldier

Health:200hp; With Battalion's Backup: 220hp
Role: Offense
Sub-Role: Artillery Man
Speed: 80%;
Charging the Cow Mangler 5000
27 %
Wielding the Escape Plan over 160 Health
80 %
Wielding the Escape Plan between 160 and 121 Health
88 %
Wielding the Escape Plan between 120 and 81 Health
96 %
Wielding the Escape Plan between 80 and 41 Health
112 %
Wielding the Escape Plan below 41 Health
128%
Strength: High Damage Output, High Health Pool
Weakness: Slow Speed
Notable Abilities: Rocket Jumping, Banner Deployment
Description:Soldiers walk rather slowly, and unless they're actually aiming for you, don't pose a threat. Going in head-to-head combat against a soldier is almost always suicidal.

Pyro

Health:175hp
Role: Offense
Sub-Role: Ambush
Speed:100%; With the Powerjack: 115%
Strength: Highest speed-to-health ratio of all the offense classes
Weakness: Weak at far range
Notable Abilities: Air Blasting
Description: Try to at least get a quick headshot on the pyro, before he gets to you, because it will significantly decrease his health. Trying to fight a pyro toe-to-toe is also almost suicidal. Watch out for flare guns and mann melters which is the only reliable way that the pyro can reach you from a range.

Demoman

Health:175hp
With weapon slot boots equipped 200
With a head-taking melee weapon equipped with 0 heads 150
With a head-taking melee weapon equipped with 1 head 165
With a head-taking melee weapon equipped with 2 heads 180
With a head-taking melee weapon equipped with 3 heads 195
With a head-taking melee weapon with 4 or more heads 210
With the Claidheamh Mòr equipped 160

Role: Defense
Sub-Role: Artillery Man

Speed: 93%
With a head-taking melee weapon equipped with 0 heads
93%
With a head-taking melee weapon equipped with 1 head
101 %
With a head-taking melee weapon equipped with 2 heads
108 %
With a head-taking melee weapon equipped with 3 heads
116 %
With a head-taking melee weapon equipped with 4 or more heads
123 %
Wielding the Scotsman's Skullcutter
79 %
Charging with a shield
250 %
Charging with a shield and wielding the the Scotsman's Skullcutter
213
With weapon slot boots and a head-taking melee weapon equipped with 0 heads: 175
With weapon slot boots and a head-taking melee weapon equipped with 1 head: 190
With weapon slot boots and a head-taking melee weapon equipped with 2 heads:205
With weapon slot boots and a head-taking melee weapon equipped with 3 heads :220
With weapon slot boots and a head-taking melee weapon equipped with 4 or more heads: 235
With weapon slot boots and the Claidheamh Mòr equipped: 185

Strength: High damage output, High health Pool
Weakness: Slow speed
Notable abilities: Sticky Jumping, Shield Charge
Description: If you see a demoman trying to sticky jump, try to quicky headshot him, or if you have already have a fully charged shot, just bodyshot him, the fall damage should do the trick if he jumps high enough, dosen't have the B.A.S.E jumper, or he uses 2 normal stickies. Don't let him get too close to you, if not, you're probably dead.

Heavy

Health: 300; Under effects of Dalokohs Bar or Fishcake: 350hp; With Warrior's Spirit: 280hp, With Warrior's Spirit under effects of Dalokohs Bar: 330hp
Role: Defense
Sub-Role: Portable Sentry/ Sanvich Dispenser (I couldn't resist :p)
Speed: 77%
Any of the Heavy's Primary weapons spun up, except the Brass Beast
37 %
Brass Beast spun up
15 %
Under effects of the Buffalo Steak Sandvich
104 %
Wielding the Gloves of Running Urgently
100 %

Strength: Highest Health Pool among all classes, High damage output
Weakness: Slowest class movement speed
Notable Abilities: Sanvichus Dispensus
Description:: Heavies are generally considederd to be the Sniper's main prey on the battle field, given his high value status. They will mostly be healed by a medic, so take your time when taking your shot. Most important part: KEEP YOUR DISTANCE FROM THE BIG GUN THAT SHOOTS OUT $400,00 EVRY 12 SECONDS!!!

Engineer

Health: 125hp; With Gunsliger: 150hp
Role:Defense
Sub-Role: Smart dude who builds aimbot heavy/soldier
Speed:100%; while hauling a building: 90%
Strength: Sentry gun, Dispensers, Teleporters (Basically not him, its his buildings)
Weakness: Fairly weak primaries, Low health pool
Notable Abilities: Able to construct Buildings
Description: It is relatively safe to go 1v1 against a engineer who is not near a sentry, because of his weak firepower. However, he will most likely be tending to his sentry, so this is unlikely. Watch out for engineers who had just gotten their Frontier Justice Revenge Crits, bcause you can be easily killed with your low health pool

Medic

Health: 150hp; with Vita-Saw: 140hp
Role: Support
Sub-Role: First-Aider/Healer
Speed:107%;with Overdose: +1% movement speed per 10% uber, up to 117%
Strength: Healing,
Weakness: Unreliable forms of self defense, short needle range (excluding Crusader's Crossbow), fairly small health pool
Notable Abilities: Uber Charge
Description: Medics will unlikely to be found alone, and will most likely be healing a patient. A quick headshot will do the trick, as will a fully charged bodyshot. If the both of you meet alone, backpedal while firing your SMG (if you have one), the medic's syringe gun has more ammo and a larger clip size than your SMG.

Spy

Health:125hp;with Conniver's Kunai: 70hp, up to 210hp; with Big Earner: 100hp
Role: Support
Sub-Role: Assasination
Speed:100%; Unless under disguise, will match slower class speeds, but not faster classes
Strength: Backstabs, fairly powerful primaries
Weakness: Most powerful weapon is melee
Notable Abilities: Backstab, Feign Death, Cloaking
Description: Spies will try to find snipers, who are generally focused on the battle field, and backstab them. If the spy is very close, pull out your melee, and if he is in mid range, your SMG. If he tries to cloak or feign death, use Jarate if you have it equipped. The Razorback will provide a hidrance to spies if you are near your team or a sentry.

Most Wanted List

Most Wanted

So, when you are a sniper (or playing as one of the assasins classes), what sets a selfish sniper apart from a real team player, is not how many kills you get, but rather, who you kill. So for both sniper and spy, there's a list of the classes you should assasinate. (in order from highest to lowest priority)

1. Sniper
2. Medic
3 Heavy
4. Soldier/Demo
5. Basically anything else

Remember, your personal safety is also very important. If you see a medic healing a heavy, and you're by yourself, don't bother trying to headshot the heavy.However, try to get the drop on the medic, because a medic is more important. Even peeking out behind a corner in the middle of a heavy firefight will be worth it, if you can get the drop on the sniper, medic or heavy.

Conclusion

Well there you have it folks, my guide to the Sniper in Tf2. I'm quite a noob compared to other snipers, only having about 80 hours of sniper under my belt so far, but we all start from somewhere. This guide took a lot out of me....almost half a year. I hope that you guys learnt something from my guide, and that you will be a better sniper! Feel free to comment, I'd like to know what I can improve on in my guide, and check out my channel Tf2 Bros in the link under 'About the Author' Check out the guide on the internet which is probably better than mine in the 'References' section.

As always my professional assasin friends, Happy Head Shooting and as the Sniper says,

"Be polite,
be efficient,
and have a plan to kill everyoneyou meet"~The Sniper

References

The following are websites that I referred to in the making of my guide:

I used a lot of tips from this guide:

http://www.tfportal.de/article/57/pro-sniper-guide/

All the speed info and some of the class information came from the tf2 wiki:

https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Main_Page

About the Author

TrueRu18 lives in Singapore with his family. He runs a youtube channel called Tf2 Bros with his friend in real life, EthanPlays Tf2. He enjoys shooting people in the head (in tf2, not real life course), and being a combat medic (Thanks ArraySeven for you combat medic inspiration) He also does SFM Posters for 1 ref, and makes his own computer wallpapers, as well as for his friends.

Youtube Channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-uwPB5BOnmolEmoXwDZxPA

Steam Profile Link:http://steamcommunity.com/id/TrueRu18/

Update History

6 December 2015

-Published guide

16 December 2015

- Added 'Update History

17 December 2015

-Added 'Most Wanted" Section
-Fixed some spelling and format errors (Thanks to FestiveVolts for pointing that out!)

[Dr.Pingu]

nice english tru ru

[iVoltaire :>]

Very technical guide and I'd never expect to meet another singaporean on steam! Some grammar errors though, might wanna recheck the guide